It took a lot of debate on whether we should have a view on this policy, we do have a view but we are very aware that politics and social media can create its own issues when a business makes it's political view known.
We think of Yorkshire tea's twitter post as a good example of how this can be damaging to a business, as their view “you either support a marxist organisation or don't buy our products” , actually meant that a lot of people I know stopped buying Yorkshire tea, me included.
Although this was well meaning, the fact that Yorkshire Tea weren't really aware of the politics behind and organisation they were supporting has created a quite understanding negative view towards Yorkshire tea/
So we hope this isn't our Yorkshire Tea moment.
We should support the Welsh Assembly Governments (WAG) and yet we don't for a few good reasons.
- Practicality - business can't be done by bus , deliveries can't be done by bus, rural locations with poor bus networks can't use a bus.
- The environmental science just doesn't add up, slower traffic and creating deliberate congestion just add up, unless there's something we are missing, if you create slow moving congested traffic, it just localises pollution instead of diluting it over a larger surface area.
- It makes Wales less competitive ( I will explain more later).
- Poorly thought out - Wales has always had an infrastructure problem, try to get from South Wales to North Wales and not drive through England, Welsh people are 12% more likely to need a car to get to work than our English cousins.
We have had to do some serious pivoting ( sorry we have had to use an awful business term here) as the plastic tax actually favored the plastic industry and not companies like ours trying to solve it.
So we just can't continue to find solutions that have an unfair tax added that doesn't apply to plastics that have recycled plastics added ( we obviously can't add plastics to our products to avoid the tax) .
It makes sense until you really think about it , recycling is just reusing a problem until it becomes a problem later on, whereas solving the issue is solving the issue now and in the future.
This has meant we have had to look at business outside the UK, and with this in mind we have been working with a number of overseas partner, but here is where it all goes wrong.
They come into Wales, drive on our roads and then they start talking about joint ventures that are based across the bridge.
The reality is that transport is essential for business and making transport third world in its structure are actually bad for Wales and bad for the environment ( Newport is the real victim of this policy).
So we think this policy is well intentioned but ultimately poorly thought out and is sadly just another example of the UK Government and the WAG making it challenging to remain a British based business.
(if you wondering what our Welsh First Minister has to say about removing the chaos he has caused , click the snail).
We used to have visitors from overseas who praised what a dynamic nation Wales, we have had decades of economic improvement and forward thinking Welsh Government, and now we have arrived back to the same speed limits we had in 1908 , yes we really have gone back 100 years.
If you want to read a very well thought out article, we can recommend the following from Will Hayward.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/news-opinion/welsh-government-really-war-motorists-27999032
Please note these views are my own and do not reflect the views of The Pure Option or any organisation I work with.
